RATIONALE: Calcitriol may help prostate cancer cells become more like normal cells, and to grow and spread more slowly. Dexamethasone may help calcitriol work better by making tumor cells more sensitive to the drug. Giving calcitriol together with dexamethasone may be an effective treatment for prostate cancer that did not respond to hormone therapy .

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving calcitriol together with dexamethasone works in treating patients with prostate cancer that did not respond to hormone therapy.

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00524589